I always feel weird about blogging because I feel like by the time I cover anything I do, it's old news and ya'll have already seen stuff from me but I guess it's good to have a document of it here. ahaha. I feel like Instagram is my blog more than this one is at times. I've been trying to crank out videos lately and I have two that I edited from my New Year's coordinate.
I did my first hair tutorial on my channel and also did a makeup tutorial as shown below:
I loved how the hair one turned out but omfg the make up one I wrestled with. My camera likes to fuck with its focus some sometimes I'm blurry at key parts. I had to color correct and crop a little bit because I'd be too off to one side and I needed my eye to be more centered and focused upon. Then my music would always be out of sync just BARELY....which meant me having to rig songs to where they'd be extended a bit and even finding fitting copyrightless music was difficult for this one. Forreal. I spent two weeks off and on editing and procrastinating because this video was such a pain in the ass for me.
I was determined however, to put out an agejo look. I'm always getting requests for both rokku and agejo looks. And I finally back in October, released a satisfactory rokku make up look because people ask me about red under-eye make up and how I do it all the time. So...I was lacking an agejo look and dude, I pride myself on how I do agejo things so I really wanted this to work out. So I forced it. My agejo looks are always fine in real life but somehow my recordings always turn out garbage.
With that being said, for New Years, I decided to do a Golds agejo look. I really loved it. It was supposed to be a style re-creation of the Egg Para Para video that is seen here.
It was actually a dream outfit that I had wanted to do for a pretty long time. I had paired some old Yumetenbo thigh boots with this look as well as a fluffy skirt and a mini-hat because they wear mini-hats in the video with huge hair. I noticed that 2009-2010 was all about the mini-hat trend and I remember that even before I was gyaru and more into Harajuku wear, I owned a few mini-hats because I thought using that as an accessory was super cute.
My hair was blue at the time and was kind of a shocking color for agejo but I feel like because it was a cool-toned outfit, the hair was easier to pull off. I will say though, doing specific hair colors really limits what you can do in your wardrobe. For instance, it's hard for me to do pink agejo right now or anything himekaji. However, right now since my hair is blue, colorful items, rokku, or blue agejo items work decently.
I might do one more round of blue before going back to pink hair. Technically I had done blue hair to tone up my blonde. The thing with blue/purple is that it can cancel out yellow. My bleach job was pretty light before but the blue turned some parts a very pretty silver but there's some fucken green in this shit, WHICH IS WHY...I've held back doing a look. I need this shit to fade a little maybe. Purple shampoo to the rescue next shower maybe?
A lot of people have been in woe about not getting to go to salons lately and I'm really happy that I already knew how to do my hair and nails. :') I don't always get what I want or do things right (I've had some mishaps) but occasionally things will turn out the way I want and I'll be quite happy with my work. I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I do a good job or when other people ask me where I go to get my nails or hair done. I've never gone to cosmetology school so that means a lot to me.
I feel like I have all of these plans for looks I want to do but it's just a matter of my skin and hair cooperating.... and just having time. I start my new semester next week and that's always crazy. I cranked out two looks in a month so that's actually not bad. I gave myself a two week break and two productive weeks full of filming and editing looks. My lady-thing is coming soon so my skin is acting up and like I mentioned, my hair color is in a weird stage so I'm holding out a little. I have this one 2008/2009 look I want to do with an old F21 bubble dress and a big beaded necklace. It's literally an outfit from my high school days that I never got rid of and I think it would work pretty well for gyaru. I just need my hair to be BLONDER for a minute before I go blue again.
When my hair is blue again (round two!) I wanna try a rokku/bangya look...which is always super ambitious because I have to fuck with black eyeshadow and that requires blending to hell and back and praying there isn't fall out. LOL. The trick is to wet the brush a bit but then it makes it harder to blend. I honestly feel like it depends on what you're trying to do. If you're trying to get a pigmented full-on black eye the wet method works but if you're trying to use it in your crease and blend it's just gonna be a mess.
I always think it's so funny that people like my rokku looks the best. It makes sense but doesn't. I barely do rokku because well..it's a ton of a work because the make up is suuuuper heavy. However, I understand why people like it because honestly I was the girl back in the day that wore a lot of gothic lolita and visual kei shit back in high school. Liked gyaru but there was a big of a rock boom back in the day even musically. If you listen to Ayumi Hamasaki even, it was less poppy and more rock sounding. I really loved bands like the Gazette, Lolita23Q, D'espairsRay, exist+trace, Dazzlevision, girugamesh, An Cafe..etc. etc. I was that girl. LOL But a lot of people even in my local area was very much so into the whole rock movement. There even used to be some "gyaru" girls who wore a ton of rock-themed brands without wearing full on 109...or did they? I wasn't as versed as I am now to look at an outfit and know exactly what was what back then!
So does make sense that people like me in that style considering it's my roots even before gyaru. I still go to rock concerts even! I recently even purchased some fake bandboi shit. LOL. I bought more replica Vivienne because my goal is to have most of the pieces that appear in Nana (I'm close...save for the super rare pieces). I bought the diamante pearl choker, two orb rings in both gold and silver (because both looked really nice) and a really colorful star orb necklace that would go with some of my really colorful Shien pieces and my Uniqlo x Gokinjo Monogatari shirt I got back in May. I also purchased a VW Berret hat which I might try to do a Yazawa-inspired look with or something..maybe..or maybe just a modern bangya look. We'll see. I actually have more jewelry coming. A store had free shipping over 15 bucks so I got some crystal chandelier VW pieces as well as a pink choker and a gold orb necklace because I'm lacking gold jewelry for certain things.
Regardless of my "rock" investments, I still adore agejo a ton and that's always going to be my first love I think. I also really love himekaji but for a while, I wasn't hoarding pieces because there was so much stuff in abundance but now I am a little worried about the climate of the second-hand market and even thinking about it makes me angry... Actually, fuck it, I have several bones to pick. I've voiced them on my Instagram but I guess I should expand upon it on here and vocally in public. Some of you already know of my feelings...
Feel free to skip if you know or you just don't want to hear my bitching...lmao
There I said it. It's truly an annoyance of mine that I vent about as I see my fellow long term gals struggle or panic buy or when I have to panic buy to maintain my long-term styles. It sucks. Especially if you're into a rarer substyle or a substyle is becoming more mainstream towards people who won't even be in this fashion for a good year but hoard all of it just to resell it for ass-backwards prices.
I really hate that I have to be wary of what I share and to whom now. I hate that I distance myself on who I interact with not knowing if they're in this fashion for the correct reasons or if they're just a nosy person but yeah...unfortunately that's the climate we are in nowadays and it really disappoints me.
I want to convey that you can definitely do gyaru without brand since it's very hair and make up based but I feel like if you truly want to solidify your substyle certain brands are necessary. I've said it a lot and I think a couple other fellow gals who used to preach this narrative have realized that it's way more challenging to do without a couple of staple brand pieces. There are certainly some clever people who have made their own items and have made it work but they've placed in the TIME and EFFORT to learn how to do shit. They've looked into how certain brands used to look even and I think that speaks volumes. They've had to research and pay attention to small details of certain brands or aesthetics and learn a whole ass skillset. That's when you know someone really does love gyaru.
I'm very lucky that I have the collection I have but sometimes there are other dream items like this camisole that I had scoured the internet for a couple of times and it took a second to get. I think because I mainly do a pretty short-lived style, it's a bit harder. Agejo wasn't around for a very long time and it doesn't exist now. AneAgejo isn't a thing anymore. Those were the days of 3D floral print with brands like DaTuRa, Rady, EmiriaWiz, and Golds Infinity's re-image running that scene as well as Ma*rs with floral and jewel prints.
That doesn't exist anymore. So it does get a little scary thinking about how hard it's about to be to wear and do the things I like while keeping it fresh.
I really dislike this whole TikTok clout culture or these kids who will be here for two seconds, leave once they don't get the attention they want, and dip while profiting or profit from said short-lived "fame" or whatever else the heck this is supposed to be.
A friend was also talking about this to me in this anime/cosplay scene. They're a really good make-up artist and they like fashion but don't do gyaru (but is aware it and the things that go on in the community). We were talking about how it's so strange that being into alt-fashion or geek stuff is suddenly socially acceptable. That it will be weird for my friends to go to conventions and see all these new TikTok kids there.
We were bullied for this shit back in the day. When I was cosplaying in public for photoshoots a lot of people were awful to me. People were gross about me listening to SES, BoA, and DBSK back when I listened to K-Pop and J-Pop...they'd take my CDs to break them and shit or make fun of Ayu's voice for insult band members who didn't look masculine enough. It's surreal seeing foreign acts on mainstream television. I would have never dreamed in a million years this would happen and that even the stuff I love would be so easily accessible...
I was given so much shit back in the day for wearing wigs, contact lenses, and eyelashes back when I first started gyaru even by my own family and now so many people are doing things like this to be edgy that suddenly it's socially acceptable.
I'm happy but angry at the same time. I'm happy because it means this may be more socially acceptable. It's cool that others think what you do is cool even from an outside perspective or out of genuine interest. However, I'm also irritated because it feels so hypocritical for this to be "cool" when it was knocked on so hard before and it's hard to see people profit from things they'd snub their noses at years a lot and literally traumatize and bully people over. It makes me anxious once lockdown is over, how these new people will act towards seasoned people in these communities.
I've seen what has happened to gyaru and how some very seasoned and looked up to people got ran out of a lot of public forums based on opinions and issues that do not belong in this fashion. A lot of people use this fashion as means of escape from the darker climates of the world as a way to relax and enjoy something they looked up to for a long time.
There are kids who can't take constructive criticism nor do they want to educate themselves about the fashion. There's a weird sense of entitlement that comes to "we want to wear fashion and invade your platforms but we couldn't give a shit about what it's truly about and we want to be spoonfed this information in order to hopefully make it on the 'gram' because this is "quirky" enough to stand out" . They instead want to profit off of these underground subcultures and "educate" outsiders with their misinformation on the fashion rather than respect it for what it is. I have a huge fucking issue with this because it is taking from the people who actually participate. It's also running out long-time people and is making them have to hide or be forced to speak on issues they are not comfortable with based on bullying on their own SMS or posts even... Not because they're not legitimate issues but because they don't want their platform to be based upon those issues when all they want to do is relax in their fashion. Can you blame anyone?
2020 has been a really stressful time for everyone so why add more stress into a hobby you love? While some have the strength to talk about important things, others use their platform as a "rest stop" per se. Other people enjoy focusing on making content that focuses on the arts or fashion or just...not loaded topics and I think that needs to addressed. Not everyone should be bullied into being required to participate in battles they have no strength to engage in. If your endurance bucket is larger than someone else's that is fine but do not project onto other people. It's up to the other party on whether or not they want to engage in that battle. It's also pretty accusatory to just assume that someone does not care or is against you because they don't want to engage.
Everyone has their own way of helping others through these really difficult times and every single way is valuable. For others, it might be advocating for different causes while some people might just want to help others relax. Both are useful and both are acceptable. But you can't bully or force others to fight the same battle as you or participate in that discourse. Some people just don't like confrontation or maybe deal with negative situations in their real life and this fashion or anyone else's hobby for that matter, might be their way of relaxing. They don't want to doom scroll on a fashion forum when Twitter, Facebook, the television is already plagued with this. Some people just want to chill out for a minute and may actually deal with this shit a lot in the real-life or have to fight with people closer to home. I know I certainly do all the time and would rather not deal with this in the one place I'm seeking solace in. I direly wish that was respected rather than making others out to be targets.
I hate that this attitude has invaded gyaru and made it an especially stressful climate and gone as far as running out others for how they choose to live their personal lives. Nobody should have the ability to dictate that or project onto that. And that's where these kids come in sometimes and really frustrates me.
Another issue I do have with the current climate is the idea that anything goes... E-girl can not be combined with gyaru. Y2K can be if it's COORDINATED like an actually effing Y2K outfit-ma*rs and other brands definitely took influences from some high-end western shit as did Alba and others but figure out what those things are (do your research-the kid's interpretation of this era isn't accurate) and people shouldn't even place bimbo in the same category as gyaru because it makes this fashion a fetish for weirdoes more than it already is. If you want to be those things-FINE, but for the love of god pursue that and stop trying to incorporate it into this fashion where it has so no place.
If you do not believe in the whole "get wild, be sexy" slogan, maybe this fashion isn't for you. This isn't a modest fashion. You don't want to cover up. This isn't a fashion where makeup isn't required. If something is "too short" or "too much"-then maybe you should look into becoming a lolita. Gyaru is all about embracing the sexier side of femininity and rocking it. There are Ero-Kawaii and sexy cute elements even in himekaji.
This fashion isn't a costume and shouldn't be treated as such.
A lot of people really misinterpret this substyle and others. Liz Lisa still has short skirts and there's a really mature element to OLD Liz Lisa that makes it gyaru. New Liz Lisa is harder to make gyaru or isn't even gyaru. I see people claim they like this style or are gyaru but then knock on old coordinates or looks from Japanese gals. Guys. THAT IS GYARU. This new shit that's LL or whatever isn't anymore.
Gyaru is not modest. It never has been. Even the cuter stuff has an element of sexiness and if you're not okay with that-then this fashion ISN'T FOR YOU. I will stress this over and over again until I am blue in the face.
ALSO-Don't knock the old stuff constantly but then say you love gyaru because that's the legit shit you're snubbing on. I see some people knock on models or shop staff that created a huge impact to the style or community and it's a bit disrespectful. You can not like an outfit or like a model over another but maybe...get to know who you're knocking on first?
Gyaru was never about the whole looking baby looking or cutesy in a very child-like way... Princessy? zes but there are brands who shifted to support a different audience and it wasn't towards the gyaru and I understand the confusion but educate yourself on your confusion.
If you think gyaru is problematic? Then maybe this style isn't for you. Don't project your viewpoints onto other people and ignore us? Nobody is forcing you to like us or look at our content. Stop projecting your issues on something towards other people who do like this. That isn't your job nor your place to. Other's don't find this problematic and that's up for them to decide not you to shame upon others for their choices.
This is what I mean by educating yourself and people bothering to. If you really like this fashion, you'll honestly look into it and more into it than what just someone else on the internet says (and that includes not listening to everything my ass says because sometimes my opinions do not align with others lmao). Otherwise, this isn't for you and you should pick a different thing to obsess over rather than something you "don't like". Move along, please...
I know a lot of people are pushing the narrative that "gyaru needs to change for the 21st century"...if that's the case look at the new Egg, the new HappieNuts, AneAgeha, and the upcoming Koakuma Ageha. That is what gyaru is going towards... Once again-respect it even if it's not what you want or like. If you *really* are adamant on this being a new era you need to accept that this is a Japanese fashion and this is what it's shifting towards. You can't just gut an already established fashion and make your own rules without respecting what came before it or make effort to be informed on what is going in Japan. For example, the new Egg magazine isn't my vibe and sometimes I even get frustrated with the direction it goes in-but I still purchase it and look through it in order to be informed on what is going on in the gyaru-sphere of things. I also follow multiple Instagrams both gaijin and Japanese to see what is trending overall. There isn't a "people who follow the old way" and "this is the new way". There is just gyaru. And a part of that is doing your own research and staying informed even if it's stuff you don't vibe with all the time because what matters is your love for the fashion and seeing where it's shifting and respecting it as it is even if you personally wouldn't do it. THAT is the new gyaru. People who like the old stuff like clothes with a little more detail or brands that were known for specific things that were exclusive to an era and brand. New stuff is definitely more about Western brand names and that Instagram look or just...a different vibe. It's not my thing but they, it's where this fashion is going so I'll keep an eye out just to see if there's anything I do like eventually.
I had a friend joking be like I'm the grandma that tells kids to get off of their lawn but honestly, I have a baby brother who is around some of these kids age and he can't even stand his own generation of people and really romanticizes the old 90s/00s shit (musically and aesthetically) and feels like he missed out on a good time. So maybe I'm not the only old grouch...haha..
It certainly doesn't mean there weren't issues or problems but there also were a lot of fun things that came out and styles/eras that were pretty iconic and obviously memorable if people want to recreate or talk about them. I just wish they were respected more...I wish everything was respected more.
It does make me wonder on my friend's end...how certain hobbies even outside of gyaru..once this pandemic has adjusted to a more open lifestyle-how it will be. Will people disappear once they have other things occupying their time or will this new generation try to define social climates for the better or worse?
I've only witnessed a little bit of it in my own hobbies and does worry me a little bit but I guess I'm hoping people will either grow or learn or get bored and leave. Or it be a phase of boredom during quarantine and they'll be onto the next thing once they're allowed to socialize and go outside... lol..
Basically, have fun-get wild and be sexy in regards to gal-but respect it. Respect what came beforehand and respect the culture. Do some investigating truly without the help of others. Honestly, it's like hunting for treasure and it's INSANELY fun. Like trust me, I learn new things all the time and it's always incredibly exciting..
Otherwise, do some soul searching. Is this fashion really for you if you can't get down with the vibe of what this represents...?
Anyway, that's all for my vent. Hopefully, I'll have more interesting content in the future that is less....charged? I don't know. I've had feelings lately. I've had friends on their own platforms talk about lashpolaypses and be panicking in my DMs and just...got me in a space where I'm mad for my friends and frustrated at the current climate of the thing I love.
Until next time guys~
